Page 29 of Roping Her In

That angle practically dumped her out of the car and left her passenger side elevated, which made it more difficult for her to get the chicken enchiladas off the seat. But armed with those and the care package, she headed down the driveway and then up his front sidewalk. His front porch spanned the entire width of the cabin, and Hailey smiled at it, because she loved a good front porch.

Momma did too, and she’d spent countless hours out on her childhood back porch with her mom, or her dad, or both, as they simply watched the country air move around them. The sound of a dog barking in the distance met her ears before Hailey knocked, and then her own heartbeat seemed to match the staccato rhythm of her knuckles against wood.

The cabin had clearly been standing for a long time, but had been taken care of. Knowing how regimented and carefully controlled Jake was, Hailey expected to find the same type of order inside.

But Hartford pulled open the door, his hands automatically moving back to his waist, where he continued to buckle his belt. “Hey, Hailey, come on in,” he said. “Jake just texted to say he’d left, and I’m headed out.”

She stepped past him and into the cabin, the scent of cedar and pine and masculine cologne meeting her nose. “You’re leaving?”

He grinned at her, and toed the door closed. “Yep. I’ve got a date in town.”

“Oh.” She wasn’t sure why she sounded so surprised; Hartford was a good man, with a job, a full head of hair, and nice eyes. “All right. Well, I can wait on the porch.”

“Jake will fillet my skin from my bones if I make you wait on the porch.” He chuckled. “He literally told me, ‘Don’t make her wait on the porch. I’ll be there in two minutes.’”

Hartford moved into the kitchen and opened a drawer in the island. It had a beautiful butcher block countertop, but the cabinets affixed to the walls behind him had been painted a pale yellow. They brightened all the wood in the cabin, as did the blue and purple throw blankets on the back of the dark brown leather couch. A table with four chairs stood in the back corner, with barely enough room for the nearby door to open and let them out of the cabin to the vast prairie beyond.

“So you stick right here,” he said. “Jake should be here in literally less than sixty seconds.” With that, Hartford grinned his way out of the cabin and left Hailey alone in Jake’s house.

She slid the chicken enchilada casserole dish onto the counter, then lifted the plastic bag containing the care package to a spot beside it. She started taking out the heating pad and the salve, noting that Momma had sent cell salts as well, with the word Healing written in her cursive scrawl on the front of the tiny plastic bag.

Embarrassment ran through her, and she wondered if she had enough time to stuff the half-dozen packets in her pockets.

Just then, the back door opened, and a gust of wind entered ahead of Jake.

“Hey,” she practically shouted, so he wouldn’t be surprised to see her there.

He glanced at her and then stamped his boots on the mat on the small deck beyond the door. “Hey.” He came inside and kicked off his boots, smiled at her, and then took in the items on his counter.

Hailey grabbed as many of the cell salt packets as she could. “You don’t need these,” she said as she tried to stuff them in her jeans pockets. But her pants weren’t exactly loose, and though the packets weren’t big, she couldn’t get in more than one or two.

He picked one up and looked at it. “Healing.” He met her eyes. “What are these?”

“Cell salts,” she said with resignation coloring the words. “You throw the whole packet back, and they dissolve in your mouth. My momma swears by them.” She picked up the last packet on the counter and reached for the one in his hand.

He pulled it back. “I’ll give them a try,” he said.

“She used to make us take them when we’d been working out in the heat, but those were the replenishing ones.” Hailey searched his face for any recognition, like perhaps his mother had done the same thing. “My younger sister used to get a lot of stomachaches, and Momma had some for that. And when my daddy hurt his ribs a few years ago—well, probably ten now—Momma looked up all the healing cell salts and made these.”

Jake hadn’t looked away from her once, and she appreciated the fact that he seemed to be listening to her, and not judging. “I’ll try them,” he said again. “How often do I take them?”

“I think twice a day, but Momma only sent six, so let me text her.” Hailey pulled out the packets she’d been trying to hide and took the opportunity to step away from Jake to text her mother. She wasn’t sure why being so close to him made her so nervous, other than the fact that the last time they’d been alone in a small space like this, he’d kissed her, then freaked out, and then ignored her for six weeks.

A response from her mother came in, and Hailey quickly tucked her phone in her back pocket. “She said once a day, hopefully at night, because then they’ll work while you’re sleeping.”

Hailey thought it sounded ridiculous, but Jake simply nodded, and swept the packets into his hands, and then put them in a drawer.

“And these are the famous chicken enchiladas, huh?” He smiled at the pan and pulled back the aluminum foil. “Are you going to stay and eat?”

Indecision raged through Hailey. “Well, she made them for you….”

He lifted his eyes to hers. “There are twenty-four enchiladas in here. I think I can spare a couple.” He spoke in that dry, salty tone that sounded as familiar as her own voice and caused her to smile.

“All right,” she said.

“My brother will be here in a couple of minutes.” Jake turned to a cabinet behind him. He pulled out three plates and then got out three forks. “This is still pretty hot,” he said as he used a fork to serve up a couple of enchiladas.

“My momma dropped it off at Feline Friends, and I drove straight here.”